International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 4, Issue 12, December-2013 1952

ISSN 2229-5518

Influence of Socio Economic Status On Academic

Achievement Of Secondary School Students Of
Lucknow City
Ritu Chandra and Prof. (Dr. ) Shaikh Azimuddin
Abstract

Socio Economic Status has always influenced the Academic Achievement of students. Academic Achievement varies for children from different social
backgrounds. Their academic performance is an outcome of their social status. Previous studies have shown that Parent’s Socio Economic Status is
strongly associated with students’ academic performance. The present study examines the influence of different categories of SES of students on their
academic achievement. The study also examines the relationship between SES and Academic achievement of 14 Secondary school students of
Lucknow city of Uttar Pradesh (India) The age range varies from 13years to 17 years. The sample of the study comprised of 614 students (358 males
and 256 females) from classes IX and X. The Socio Economic Status scale developed by Dr. Meenakshi (2004) is used for collection of data. The board
results of class IX and X are used for assessment of academic achievement. The statistical measures like t-test and Karl Pearson’s correlation
coefficient is used. The result of the study reveals the difference between high, average and low SES groups and their academic achievement. A
positive correlation is observed between SES and Academic achievement. Based on these findings some recommendations are given for practice and
further studies.

Keywords: Academic Achievement, Socio Economic Status, Secondary Schools, T-test, ANOVA, Karl Pearson’s Correlation coefficient

——————————  ——————————

Introduction
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 4, Issue 12, December-2013
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Socio Economic status is the most important
variable in determining the Academic
Achievement of students. Increasingly,
researchers examined educational processes,
including academic achievement ,in relation to
socio economic background.(Bornstein and
Bradley,2003;Brooks-Gunn and
Duncan,1997;Coleman1988;McLoyd,1998).The
Socio Economic Status of a child is most
commonly determined by combining parents’
educational level ,occupational status and
income level (Jeynes 2002).Studies have
repeatedly found that SES affects student’s
outcomes.(Baharudin
andLuster1998,Jeynes2002,Eamon2005,Majorib
anks1996, Hocschild2003, Mcneal2001,Seyfried
1998). Researchers found that the Socio
economic Status ,parental involvement and
family size are particularly important family
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factors.(majoribanks1996) Families with high
socio economic status often have more success
in preparing their young children for school
because they have access to a wide range of
resources to promote and support young
children’s development. They are able to
provide their young children with high quality
care, amenities and facilities. Crnic and
Lamberty (1994) discussed the impact of socio
economic status on children’s readiness for
school. White (1982) carried out first Meta –
analytic study to review the literature on this
subject published before 1980 to examine the
relationship between SES and academic
achievement and showed that the relation
varies significantly with a number of factors
such as the types of SES and academic
achievement measures.
Students who have a low SES earn low test
scores and drop out of
school.(Eamon2005,Horchschild2003) The low
SES affects academic achievement as it
prevents access to important resources and
creates stress at
home.(Eamon2005,Majoribanks1996,Jeynes
2002) Low SES leads to family problems and
disrupted home environment and as a result
the academic performance of the child.
Even in families with above average income
,parents lack time and energy to invest in their
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children’s preparation for school and hence
inadequately prepared for school.( Zill,
Collins, West and Hausken1995) stated that
low maternal education and minority
language status are most consistently
associated with fewer signs of emerging
literacy and a greater number of difficulties in
preschoolers. Having inadequate resources
affect negatively family’s decision for young
children’s development and learning. The
nature of the relationship between socio
economic status (SES) and student
achievement has been debated for decades, the
most influential argument is “Equality of
Educational opportunity” Coleman, etal.1968
and “Inequality” Jencks, etal. 1973 in the
United States of America. How SES influences
students academic achievement has been
explained based on various theories. Few
theories say that students from low SES homes
lack an academic environment at home and
which in turn influences their academic
achievement. Another scenario argues that
school and neighborhood environment
influences academic achievement as low SES
schools are generally low in performance.
How government interprets the influence of
SES and achievement leads to policy decisions.
Although contribution of SES must be
examined both at school and student level but
the present study is limited to influence of
family SES on academic achievement of
students in school.
Previous Studies:
Ganguly Malabika (1989) revealed in his study
of socio economic status and scholastic
achievement a relationship between the two in
a particular setting. The study investigated the
difference in scholastic achievement of upper,
middle and lower socio-economic groups of
students. The major findings of the study were
the mean achievement scores of the upper SES
groups of urban areas in all the three groups of
subjects different significantly from those of
the lower groups. The upper SES groups had
done better in all the three groups of subjects.
The mean scores in the upper socio-economic
status and lower socio economic status of rural
areas differed significantly. The difference
between the means in all the areas of
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ISSN 2229-5518

achievement was found to be significant. Hypotheses of the Study

Trivedi, Vineeta (1988) conducted a study of
the relationship between socio economic 1. There is no significant difference
background and academic achievement between Socio Economic Status and
among the intermediate students. The sample academic achievement of secondary
consisted of 523 girls students from 11 school students.
institutions. The finding of the study revealed
a significant relationship between socio- 1.1. There is no significant difference
economic status and academic achievement. between academic achievement of high
The students of upper SES showed better SES and Average SES category secondary
achievement than the students of lower SES school students.
group. Rupa Das Barbora (2001) conducted a 1.2. There is no significant difference
study on the academic achievements of between academic achievement of average
children belonging to the background classes socio economic status and Low socio
focusing on Kamrup District Assam to find out economic status category secondary
the causes of their low academic achievements. school students.
It was found that the children of literate 1.3. There is no significant difference
parents show better academic achievement between academic achievement of High
than the children of illiterate parents. The and low socio economic status category
academic achievement of Girls is better than secondary school students.

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that of the boys. Seluck, R. Sirin 2005
conducted a meta Analysis to review the
2. There is no significant relationship
literature on Socio Economic status and
between socio economic status and
academic achievement between 1990 and 2000
Academic achievement of secondary
to see whether the SES achievement
school students.
correlation had changed since white’s initial
review was published. The results showed a
Justification of the Study
slight decrease in the average correlation.
Andrew Mc Conney (2010) conducted a study
The process of education aims at enhancing
to show that both students and school socio
the academic performance of the students.
economic status are strongly associated with
Only a holistic approach can yield result to
student outcomes. It was found that
improve learning outcomes of the students.
mathematics achievement was greater in
Although Academic performance is dependent
higher SES school as compared with lower SES
on many variables like intelligence, socio
schools. The Influence of SES and its
economic status, personal characteristics,
variables on academic achievement is very
attitude, values, environment etc. But socio
complex. The present study is aimed at
economic status is one of the major variable
achieving the following objectives.
affecting the academic achievement .The
society is divided into many classes and on the
1. To study the influence of Socio
basis of parents affiliation with a certain class,
Economic Status on academic
they send their ward to schools accordingly.
achievement of secondary school
Hence the parents SES is an important factor
students.
which contributes towards child’s education.

2. To study the relationship between To optimize the educational opportunities, it is

Socio Economic status and Academic necessary to find out the relation between the
Achievement of secondary school SES and academic achievement and to what
students. extend SES influences the academic
achievement so that the academic achievement

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of secondary school students could be

increased.
Methodology
The descriptive method of research was
adopted for this study. A sample of 614
secondary school students (male 358,
female256) was collected from 14 schools of
Lucknow city, Uttar Pradesh in India.
Purposive sampling was used to collect the
sample of the study. The sample age ranges
from 13-17 years both males and females.
Tools
1. Socio-Economic status scale for
assessment of SES by Dr. Meenakshi
(2004) was used.
2. The Board Results of students from
school record for measuring their
The above table1 shows that the total number
of High SES category students is 263. The
mean of the Academic achievement score of
High SES students is 74.91 and Standard
Deviation of students of high SES is 9.484.The
S.Em. of students of High SES is 0.585. The
Average SES category students are 312 in
number. The mean of Academic Achievement
score of Low SES students is 64.48 and
Standard Deviation is 10.696.The S.Em. of
students of low SES is 0.606. The t-value is
12.265 at 573 degree of freedom which is
significant at 0.05 level of significance; hence
the null hypothesis is rejected. It means that
there is significant difference between
Academic achievement of high SES category
and average SES category secondary school
students. Students belonging to high SES have

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academic achievement were used. higher academic achievement as compared to
average SES students. As they have better
Result and Analysis exposure and environment. They go to schools
with better infrastructure and facilities. The
Table1 teachers, tutors and guidance of parents is also
available to them. They have healthy
Significance of the Difference Between Means competitive environment for improving their
of Academic Achievement of High Socio academic achievement.
Economic Status and Average Socio Economic Ganguly Malabika (1989) in their
Status Students study Socio Economic States and Scholastic
Standard t- Achievement revealed that the upper and
SES Standard Error lower socio economic status groups of urban
value
Category N Mean Deviation Mean areas differed significantly in their mean
High 74.91 scores from those of the upper socio economic
12.26
263 9.484% .585%
SES % 58*status and lower socio economic status of rural
Average 64.48 areas. The difference between the means in all
312 10.696% .606% the areas of achievement was found to be
SES %
significant. The results are depicted in the
df =573,*significant at 5% figure1 below:

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 International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 4, Issue 12, December-2013 1956
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school students is 6.487 at 349 degree of

freedom which is significant at 0.05 level of
350
significance hence the null hypothesis is
300
rejected. It means that there is significant
250
difference between academic achievement of
200
263 average Socio Economic Status category and
150
312 low Socio Economic Status category secondary
100
50
school students .
0
Hari Krishnan M. (1992) in his study ‘A Study
SES Std. of Academic Achievement of the students of
Category Deviation the higher Secondary stage in relation to
achievement motivation & socio economic
status revealed that SES was significantly
related to Academic Achievement. The results
are depicted in figure 2 below:
Figure 1 Academic Achievement Scores of
High and Average Socio Economic Status
Students

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Table 2
Significance of the Difference Between Means 350
of Academic Achievement of Average Socio 300
Average
Economic Status and Low Socio Economic 250
Status Students 200 SES
150 Low SES
Standard t-value 100
SES Standard Error 50
Category N Mean Deviation Mean 0
Deviation
N

Average 6.487*
312 64.48% 10.696% .606%
Std.

SES
Low SES 39 52.62% 11.329% 1.814%

df =349,* significant at 5%
Figure 2 Academic Achievement
Scores of Average and Low Socio Economic
The above table shows that the total number of
Status Students
Average Socio Economic Status category
students is 312. The mean of the Academic
achievement scores of Average Socio
Economic Status is 64.48 and Standard
Deviation is 10.696.The S.Em. of average socio
economic status is 0.606. The low Socio
Economic Status category students are 39 in
number. The mean score of the academic
achievement of low socio economic status is
52.62 and Standard Deviation is 11.329.The
S.Em. of students of low Socio Economic
Status is 1.814 The t-value between average
SES category and low SES category secondary

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 International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 4, Issue 12, December-2013 1957
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300
250
200
Table3 150
Significance of the Difference Between Means 100 High SES
of Academic Achievement of High Socio Low SES
50
Economic Status and Low Socio Economic
0
Status Students N Standard
Error
Standard t-value Mean
SES Mea Standard Error
Category N n Deviation Mean
High SES 74.91 13.344*
Figure 3 Academic Achievement
263 9.484% .585% Scores of High and Low Socio Economic
%
Low SES 52.62 Status Students
39 11.329% 1.814%
%
ANOVA
df=300,*significant at5% Table 4
Comparisons of Academic Achievement
The above table shows that the total number of scores of Low, Average and High Socio

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High Socio Economic Status category students Economic Status Students
are 263. The mean of the Academic
achievement score of students of High Socio SES T-Value
economic status is 74.91 and Standard Categor Standard
Deviation is 9.484.The Standard Error mean of y N Mean Deviation High Average Low
students of high SES is 0.585. The low Socio Low 52.62 13.344 6.487 -
39 11.329%
Economic Status category students are 39 in SES %
number. The mean of the academic Averag 64.48 12.265 6.487
312 10.696%
achievement score of the students of low socio e SES % ------
economic status is 52.62 and Standard High 74.91 ------- 12.265 13.344
263 9.484%
Deviation of low socio economic status SES %
students is 11.329. The S.Em. of students of Total 68.19
614 12.094%
low socio economic status is 1.814. The t-value %
between high SES category and low SES
category secondary school students are 13.344 In Table4 Academic Achievement scores of
at 300 degree of freedom which is significant at students of low, average and high Socio
0.05 level of significance, hence the null economic status are compared. The number
hypothesis is rejected. It means that there is a students in Low SES category are 39,in
significant difference between Academic Average SES category 312 and in High SES
achievement of high Socio Economic Status category are 263.The mean of the academic
category and low Socio Economic Status achievement scores of students of low average
category secondary school students . and high SES category are 52.62, 64.48 and
Vineeta Trivedi (1988) in her study of the 74.91. The Standard Deviation of students of
relationship of parental attitude, socio Low SES is 11.329, Average SES is 10.696 and
economic background and their academic High SES is 9.484.A comparison of T-values is
achievement found that students of upper SES also shown in Table4.The t-value between low
showed better achievement than the students and high SES is 13.344, between low and
of lower SES group. The result is depicted average SES is 6.487 and between high and
below in figure 3: average SES is 12.265. The results are depicted
in figure 4 below

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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 4, Issue 12, December-2013 1958
ISSN 2229-5518

differ significantly in their Academic

Achievement .

70000
60000
350
50000
300
40000 between
250 30000 groups

20000 within
200 low groups
10000
150 Averag
e 0
100
High sum of mean
squares square
50

0
Figure 5 Summary of Analysis of Variance in
N tvalue
respect to Socio Economic Status and
high
Academic achievement

Correlation Analysis
Figure 4 Comparative Academic Achievement
scores of Low, Average and High Socio

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Correlation Analysis between Dependent
Economic Status Students
variable Academic Achievement and
Independent Variable Socio economic Status

Table 5
The study considers the dependent variable
Summary of Analysis of Variance in respect to
academic achievement independent variable
Socio Economic Status and Academic
socio economic status. To find out the
achievement
relationship between the socio economic
status of the secondary school students and
ANOVA
their academic achievement is one of the
Academic achievement
objectives of the study. To study the
Sum of Mean
relationship between the academic
Squares df Square F Sig.
Between achievement and socio economic status Karl
25632.439 2 12816.219 Pearson’s correlation coefficient technique was
Groups
Within 122.315* applied and relationship was measured.
.000
64020.884 611 104.780
Groups
Total 89653.322 613 Table6
*Significant at 5% level Relationship between Academic Achievement
of Secondary school students and their socio
In table 5, sum of squares between groups is economic status
25632.439 and within groups is 64020.884. The
value for mean squares between groups is N=614
12816.219 and within groups it is 104.780 .The Variable
value of F is highly significant at of study AA
122.315.(f=122.315* <0.05) Hence the null
SES Score Pearson Correlation .580**
hypothesis that there is no significant
difference between SES and Academic Sig. (2-tailed) .000
achievement of secondary school students is
rejected. The three categories of Socio
**. Correlation is significant at the
economic status of secondary school students
0.01 level (2-tailed).

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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 4, Issue 12, December-2013
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The table 6 clearly shows a high degree of
positive correlation between socio economic
status and academic achievement of secondary
school students.(r=0.580)*.The result of the
present study is got support from the findings
of White, Karl R. (1982) and Muhammad
Maqsuad and Sepideh Rouhani (1991) Brent M
Blevins in his study on the relationship
between SES and academic achievement used
Karl Pearsons r and which supports the result
as well.
Therefore the null hypothesis that there is no
significant relationship between Academic
Achievement of secondary school students
and their socio economic status is rejected and
alternative hypothesis is accepted at p<0.01 In
other words there is a significant positive
correlation between academic achievement
and socio economic status of secondary school
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students.
Findings and Conclusions
The results of the study show that socio
economic status of the students influences
their academic achievement. There is a
difference between high SES and Average SES
category students. Students belonging to high
SES category have higher Academic
achievement as compared to average SES
students. The High SES students have better
exposure and environment. They go to schools
with excellent infrastructure and facilities. The
teachers, tutors and guidance of parents are
also available to them. They have healthy
environment for improving their academic
achievement. The null hypothesis is rejected.
In comparison to Low SES category Average
SES category students show higher academic
achievement. Academic achievement is
positively related to socio economic status.
Low SES category students are deprived of
good schools and outstanding guidance. Due
to their meagre resources they cannot work to
increase their academic achievement.
There is a stark contrast, between, high SES
and Low SES category students in their
academic achievement. The students
belonging to high SES go to schools with
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1959
excellent facilities and infrastructure. They are
taught by trained and experienced teachers.
This helps them in enhancing their academic
achievement. A child with high SES and
Average intelligence will also give good result
as compared to Low SES & high intelligence,
as the child would be deprived of basic
facilities for sharpening and honing his talent.
He will not have the opportunity to project his
intelligence. Hence the null hypothesis is
rejected.
Limitations of the study
The study is limited to 14 schools of lucknow
city, Uttar Pradesh in India. Hence the results
cannot be generalized. All aspects of the
variables are not covered due to shortage of
time and resources.
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Socio Economic background and the _________________________________
feeling of security among the
intermediate students and their • Ritu Chandra is currently a Research Scholar
academic achievement”, Ph.D , puruing Ph.D in Education from Integral
Education, University of Lucknow, University, Lucknow, India
• Prof. (Dr. ) Shaikh Azimuddin is Dean, Faculty of
1988.
Education, Integral University, Lucknow, India
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